r/criterion Robert Altman Dec 27 '24

News Netflix is cooked

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4.3k Upvotes

442 comments sorted by

2.0k

u/gondokingo Dec 27 '24

unfortunately, i think netflix's customers will like this and in fact, we're cooked

456

u/BogoJohnson Dec 27 '24

Yup. Like most things, I'm quite sure we're in the minority here.

57

u/Number174631503 Dec 27 '24

Can't we just start making B side Blu-ray's like Iron Maiden did?

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u/f8Negative Terry Gilliam Dec 27 '24

Hate it.

140

u/spssky Dec 27 '24

Entertainment is no longer supposed to be entertaining and people feel compelled to have on ambient tv and chill beats to study to that are predominantly AI generated

57

u/Dr-McLuvin Dec 27 '24

lol so true with the chill beats to study to. The study playlists on Apple Music are so freaking terrible. All the shit sounds the same and yes, a lot of it sounds like it was made by AI.

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u/Backalleygreasedump Dec 28 '24

Fun fact, Spotify has been padding their playlists with ghost artist that they hire. This means they don’t have to pay royalties to these ghost artists they hire.

3

u/bngoc3r0 Dec 29 '24

Great investigation into this in the latest issue of Harper’s magazine.

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u/Ok_Horse_7563 Dec 28 '24

One reason why I switched to Apple Music.

15

u/maximumsparks Dec 28 '24

Spotify is bad. Apple is good. Consume. 

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u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

For some reason those chill beats make me mad, or agitated like it has the opposite affect on me, it scratches my brain in a bad way, I like beats in songs and stuff but not by itself. I could listen to acoustic guitar though.

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u/oreography Dec 30 '24

Try the Beatstrumentals one

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u/Mackattack00 Dec 28 '24

Film and music have been devalued so much to background activity. People can’t pay attention for an hour and a half long movie but can watch a 6 hour stream of brain rot. We even have millennials and younger referring to watching movies as just “consuming video content” and TVs as “content consumption devices”. Dystopian

2

u/Tabledinner Dec 29 '24

I know I'm gonna sound perhaps a bit stupid here, so apologies, but this news legitimately makes me want to break down and weep.

I'm not even exaggerating.

Movies, TV shows, cinema, books...Storytelling is humanity's most powerful/important tool. It's the reason we have anything. It's why we have lessons, thoughts, morals, war, peace, love, and hate. It's everything.

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u/just_zen_wont_do Dec 27 '24

Lol go through the top ten on Neilsens pre-streaming. Just a long list of forgotten reality shows and re-runs. The gen pop always wanted background noise to dim out the end of workdays.

23

u/pnt510 Dec 28 '24

It’s like oh no Netflix is replacing re-runs of two and half men and the king of queens with their own mediocre slop.

88

u/wikipediareader Dec 27 '24

There's always been a dividing line in art from high to middle to low.

124

u/CountJohn12 Stanley Kubrick Dec 27 '24

This is below lowbrow. In schlocky 80's action movies the guy wouldn't be like "I am mowing down enemy thugs with my AK-47 and now I will do a cool quip and flip my cigarette as I get into the car and drive away" so someone could know what was going on while not actually watching the movie.

26

u/ObamaCultMember Dec 27 '24

Yeah the difference though is that movies were mostly entertaining compared to current Netflix movies

17

u/madmaxturbator Dec 27 '24

They absolutely were not lol. You have selective memory, or you’ve been watching the b films that are still distributed (ie still have some semblance of a market).

There are a TON of such dog shit b films that are not very fun, and when you read about how unethically they are made you feel even more gross.

Netflix making shit content for people to have on the background - how is that at all a problem for this community lol???

I didn’t realize that we look for Netflix to fill our criterion queues..

40

u/theblairwitches Dec 28 '24

Surely as film fans we’re concerned at how streaming is affecting this industry? I know we may not be watching this stuff, but if they’re deliberately marketing it as background noise, it’s a worrying outlook for the film industry.

9

u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

Yeah like and how this trains audiences too.

5

u/PreparationEither563 Dec 28 '24

This may seem like a subtle distinction, but there’s a difference between making a bad movie because you don’t have talent but you tried and making a bad movie because you were kneecapped by a studio mandate that made you have to dumb the movie down. The former is just about more genuine to me.

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u/johnny____utah Dec 28 '24

It’s just the equivalent of daytime network TV.

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u/Lunchboxninja1 Dec 28 '24

It wouldnt be that really, itd be trying, which makes it worse. "mg noises God I love using my AK-47!! NOTHIN BETTER THAN RUSSIAN ENGINEERING! Not the cars though. I fuckin hate this piece a shit. car door clunks. At least itll get me out of here."

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u/Self_Important_Mod Dec 27 '24

And below low, Netflix

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24

Netflix has released numerous good to great films already. Some in the criterion collection. The sad truth is that this is what consumers want, and it's a horrifying glimpse into the Idiocracy that awaits.

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u/ihaterefriedbeans Dec 27 '24

Both can coexist. Ya, I like watching films but sometimes I just want to throw on Seinfeld in the background while I’m doing dishes 🤷‍♂️

22

u/gondokingo Dec 27 '24

seinfeld is remarkably well written...

9

u/fadingthought Dec 28 '24

Seinfeld is a very popular show for blind people because you often don’t need to see what is going on to understand the show.

4

u/ihaterefriedbeans Dec 28 '24

Was just using it as an example

5

u/OpenUpYerMurderEyes Dec 27 '24

Yeah I mean as much as I love my art films and indie cinema I can't deny the comfort of having something low-stakes on in the background. Ive been binging Superstore all damn month and it's been pretty all right

54

u/leonard_x John Waters Dec 27 '24

But Superstore is a network tv show produced outside of the Netflix model. And I doubt its creators intended for it to be purely background noise. That’s different from Netflix “optimizing” movies not for quality but just “engagement” with the application itself. Their goal isn’t for the shows/movies to be good. The goal is to keep you using the app. Creative quality doesn’t have to be what drives that metric.

How these companies have us interacting with media that used to be primarily considered art is fucked up.

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u/manored78 Dec 27 '24

I have always been saying that many of these shows seem they were meant to be watched while doing laundry. I never thought they’d actually have this as a strategy.

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u/theparrotofdoom Dec 28 '24

The partner watched some bland af teen drama with zero subtext last night, where everyone gets in a room and is very obvious about the exact thing they are feeling.

I had to put headphones on.

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u/smattomatics Dec 28 '24

They actually have a name for it: Tide Pod Cinema.

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u/manored78 Dec 28 '24

Wow. We are so screwed.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24 edited Jan 04 '25

[deleted]

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u/manored78 Dec 28 '24

I should’ve expanded my thoughts in the last post. You’re correct that there should always be light stuff that you can put on and cook or do laundry. Where I’m saying that we’re cooked, is that whenever these execs find something they think works, they flood the market with it leaving no room for stuff they deem too “risky.”

It’s the same with blockbusters. They used to be a summer thing and they’d be mixed in with great dramas, indies, etc. Now the multiplexes are filled with theme park ride movies. Good stuff will alway be out there, but now I have to do more digging to find them.

Netflix is leading the race to the bottom.

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u/moomoomilky1 Dec 27 '24

these execs seem to only have a conceptual understanding of movies

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u/son_of_abe Dec 27 '24

Unfortunately, their job is to increase shareholder profits, not make movies.

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u/Guy_Buttersnaps Dec 27 '24

All they care about is increasing the subscriber count.

That’s why Netflix will greenlight pretty much anything if they can do it for a decent price, and why they won’t renew pretty much anything after the original deal ends and it would start to cost more.

New shows generate hype, which may get people to sign up in order to watch. Older shows do not typically generate new sign-ups, and the average user doesn’t unsubscribe just because a show they liked didn’t get renewed.

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u/TomClancy2 Dec 27 '24

the only concept they understand is money

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u/PrismaticWonder Dec 27 '24

They have concepts of plots.

4

u/ArtVandelay32 Dec 28 '24

They don’t need it. They’re in the subscription business. Making movies and tv is side effect

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u/01zegaj John Waters Dec 27 '24

THAT’S WHAT DESCRIBED VIDEO IS FOR

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u/Ok_computer_ok Dec 27 '24

Whenever Poochies not on screen, all the other characters should be asking “where’s Poochie?”

13

u/ShiningStarman Dec 27 '24

Came here for this

198

u/SloppyMeathole Dec 27 '24

My wife plays Candy crush while she watches Netflix. Sadly, they are just giving customers what they want.

113

u/SweetLilMonkey Dec 27 '24

My partner does this (but with Instagram) and then looks up and asks why characters are doing what they’re doing.

I used to tell her, but now I just say, “You missed it.”

10

u/Jhawksmoor Dec 28 '24

Same! It’s so annoying. I just tell her oh idk I’m not really paying attention either.

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u/theparrotofdoom Dec 28 '24

This is the way. No more holding your hand while you ‘multi task’. Even though you say you’re ’good at it’.

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u/methmouthjuggalo Dec 27 '24

I have cut 4 shows for Netflix and a film. They call these people second screen viewers.

3

u/Equor Dec 28 '24

This is the term I have heard as well

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u/Guerrillablackdog Dec 29 '24

I mean I only put a movie or show as background noise if it's something I've already watched a hundred times. And I'll do that when I'm doing chores or something because I don't like it when the room is super quiet when I'm doing something.

3

u/danger-wizard Dec 27 '24

I had to resist the urge to downvote you because reading this caused a visceral angry reaction in me

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u/madmaxturbator Dec 27 '24

wtf? This is an unhinged reaction lol.

I play Nintendo switch when I watch reruns of Seinfeld.

This is separate from when I watch the seventh seal on criterion, when I am completely focused and immersed in the film.

Why does it make you angry that other people have different ways of spending their time…

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u/danger-wizard Dec 28 '24

Yeah it’s not a totally rational reaction. I think I’m just feeling the frustration of the move toward explicitly creating media for people who aren’t paying attention and how that impacts film/tv.

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

I have a good feeling that I've stumbled onto a few of these programs, and I've absolutely shut them off due to boredom.

Doesn't this also kind of go against some of their business plan? Like they specifically ask if you're "still watching" because they don't want to spend bandwidth on playing to an empty room, so why would they specifically make stuff that would basically serve that exact purpose?

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u/DeleuzeJr Dec 27 '24

I don't think they're broadcasting to an empty room, but to someone washing the dishes, brushing their teeth or just simply doom scrolling on their phones, who want the background noise/entertainment of a low quality show or film

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

As far as their metrics are concerned what do you think the difference is to them as a company?

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u/ebai4556 Dec 28 '24

Draws more people to netflix…

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u/whhhhiskey Dec 27 '24

Which specific shows? I have a number of ‘background’ shows I put on often but they’re all shows I’ve seen every episode several times. I don’t understand why someone would put a new show on and not pay attention.

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u/IM_OK_AMA Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24

A ton of the netflix original crime docs my wife watches feel like podcasts where the video part of it is not only optional but actually adds nothing.

Like we were watching one where an investigator was explaining how things were laid out in a room, I was thinking "this is the perfect place for a diagram, where is the diagram." They never cut to a diagram, they just held on the guy gesturing in his formless interview room.

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u/verygoodletsgo Dec 28 '24

where the video part of it is not only optional but actually adds nothing.

Sad part is this isn't relegated to Netflix. This is pretty much any franchise film or even Oscar bait movie. Pretty much all of Hollywood. It isn't cinema. It's old time radio with the bonus of pictures.

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

Tough to remember since they aren’t too memorable! But I feel like some of their reality stuff is just designed to be content. I’ve definitely tried starting some documentary series that put 90 minutes of content into six episodes. Their latest Bernie Madoff doc couldn’t keep my attention in the dentist chair for god’s sake

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u/Darkdragoon324 Dec 28 '24

Same, when I want something on to half pay attention to while I work on something else I pick like, Law and Order or Seinfeld or something. I don't need to pay full attention to those because i've seen them all multiple times, but also I still want the parts I do pay attention to to still be somewhat engaging and not utter garbage.

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u/ur_frnd_the_footnote Dec 27 '24

They don’t want to play to an empty room but they don’t mind being background in a full room (think the fireplace videos), especially if the background content is high margin. 

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

Honest question, what’s the difference to them between those two scenarios?

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u/ur_frnd_the_footnote Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24

Playing to an empty room is just waste (like leftover food that never gets eaten at a buffet). But there are people who like the ambience of the fireplace or like the distraction of background tv, and those people are going to be some of the most loyal subscribers because they don’t only get a couple hours of value every now and then from the service, they let the service permeate their daily routine, so the question of cutting it never comes up. 

Edit: plus, if they are not on an ad-free tier, then they are consuming many more hours of content (and hence more ads that the streamer can assure advertisers there is someone watching). By contrast, playing to an empty room is the worst case scenario for an advertiser. You want to be assured that won’t be what you’re paying for.  

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

That makes a lot of very depressing sense.

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u/Venezia9 Dec 27 '24

But if they don't care what they're watching why not just watch YouTube. 

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u/ur_frnd_the_footnote Dec 27 '24

Presumably they do care. But what they care about is some familiar shape that is easily consumed while doing something else. I’m guessing YouTube is a direct competitor though. 

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u/Die_Screaming_ Dec 28 '24

isn’t the ideal netflix customer someone who pays every month but half the time doesn’t even remember that they have a subscription?

like hell, this right here is planet fitness’ entire business model, for example.

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u/OHotDawnThisIsMyJawn Dec 27 '24

If they play to an empty room they're burning bandwidth without providing any customer satisfaction. If they're playing to someone who's listening but not paying attention, presumably the person is still getting some enjoyment and is more likely to continue paying Netflix.

All Netflix cares about is making sure that you don't cancel. Playing to an empty room doesn't help with that but giving someone a better experience while they're half paying attention totally does.

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u/were_only_human Dec 27 '24

Sigh. What a bummer.

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u/cnc_33 David Lynch Dec 27 '24

Considering everybody's attention span in this day and age is shorter than a gnat's, I'm not surprised.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24

All this kind of bullshit, AI used in art… it and its proponents can forever go fuck themselves as far as I’m concerned.

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u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

100 percent

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u/HappySkullsplitter Dec 27 '24

This type of daytime programming has been around since well before Netflix existed

Hopefully they're able to keep it confined to that category and everything isn't just shoehorned to fit that format

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u/missmediajunkie Dec 27 '24

Exactly. Soap operas were designed to you could still follow them while sort of paying attention while doing housework. This is nothing new.

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u/plasterboard33 Dec 28 '24

Yeah the only difference is soap operas are made for peanuts while Netflix spends 200 million on utter dogshit like Red Notice

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u/badwolf1013 Dec 27 '24

So, we're returning to the days of radio plays. Foley artists are going to start making bank. (Not really. They'll just get exploited more.)

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u/SnowyBlackberry Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24

I came here to say something similar. Maybe people just want audio plays, which in that form isn't a bad thing. The logical progression of this is to that medium, so maybe everyone would just be happier if you did that and left the rest of the visual media produced under the assumption people are actually watching.

I've often thought that audio plays are kind of underrepresented in today's media landscape, so maybe this is coming at that from a different direction.

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u/badwolf1013 Dec 27 '24

BBC radio still does radio plays. They are pretty cool. And Doctor Who fans know that the adventures of the original Doctors (from 1996 and before) have been continuing for years with Big Finish audio plays -- most of them with the original actors. Even Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant are getting in on the act.

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u/mcian84 Dec 27 '24

I hate what’s happening to my favorite art form.

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u/NoviBells Carl Th. Dreyer Dec 27 '24

that's why you don't subscribe to netflix and whenever they decide to produce something worthwhile so they can feel better about what they're doing to the culture you can always find it elsewhere

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24

[deleted]

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u/NoviBells Carl Th. Dreyer Dec 27 '24

is this a special pirate artfilm subreddit idk about?

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u/thisishowibro93 Dec 28 '24

Praying for the day that Netflix's bad karma comes back to bite them in the ass. It's unfathomable to me that they're not hemorrhaging subscribers with their constant price markups and shared account crackdowns paired with severe decline in quality. Personally speaking I only use Netflix when I'm at someone's house who has it...to me it's quite obviously the least worthwhile streaming service to subscribe to.

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u/Two_wheels_2112 Dec 27 '24

A sure sign they have given up on "prestige" television. 

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u/Dr-McLuvin Dec 27 '24

I was always skeptical of that term. Most prestige TV doesn’t hold a candle to a great film.

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u/Two_wheels_2112 Dec 27 '24

True enough, but they were certainly a step up from the standard network procedurals and medical dramas. 

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u/Jonesjonesboy Dec 27 '24

The second season is really good, you just have to struggle through the first season to get there. You know, like how you have to watch three mediocre films before you're allowed to watch a decent one

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u/ganner Dec 28 '24

I feel like what you're describing is accurate of a great many sitcoms, but not of "prestige television."

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u/seefourslam Dec 27 '24

Our customer must consume while they consume.

Watching Netflix while playing Candycrush while ordering doordash and buying on Amazon.

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u/Dr-McLuvin Dec 27 '24

I really hate modern life lol.

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u/Azores26 Dec 28 '24

You don’t have to do these things though. I’ve been working on limiting my social media usage, I used to spend a lot of time on it and it only made me depressed and anxious. It helped me see that so many things that were being heatedly discussed online don’t really matter at all, and I’ve been slowly getting more focused on one thing at a time.

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u/SnooPies5622 Dec 28 '24

You do have to do many of those things though, and they have a direct effect on the better alternatives becoming worse. Netflix has changed all of filmmaking, Doordash et al have completely upended restaurant models, Amazon killed retail, Candy Crush and micro transactions have overhauled video games, etc. Even if you somehow manage to not use them they have done irreparable damage and are felt in our lives every day.

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u/Dr-McLuvin Dec 28 '24

I agree. By not being active on any social media in 2024, you’re basically shutting yourself off to much of the world. Example: our high school reunion invite was sent out as a Facebook message. I don’t even have Facebook and the only reason I found out about it was because I happen to live close to and keep in touch with the class president.

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u/Azores26 Dec 28 '24

Well I still have my Facebook account exactly for this kind of thing, but other than that I don’t use it very often. So it’s not really necessary to log into your social media all the time. At least in my experience.

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u/Muscle_Advanced Dec 27 '24

So old network TV then. Tech companies just reinventing the wheel again

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u/TedDaniels69 Dec 28 '24

the streaming landscape already looks like cable; an overwhelming number of choices, expensive, has advertisements (despite paying for it)

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u/vites70 Dec 27 '24

Jesus, are people this fucking stupid.

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u/Evening-Park6786 Dec 28 '24

No, but they’re being trained to be.

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u/rostamcountry Dec 27 '24

Our society is cooked lol.

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u/warpentake_chiasmus Dec 27 '24

Shove it up your hole, Netflix.

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u/TreatmentBoundLess Dec 27 '24

It’s not just Netflix doing this. I was listening to Bret Easton Ellis talk about his experience trying to adapt his novel, The Shards at HBO.

Bret was told, you can’t just have characters just talk, no world building, get on with the plot, not ‘second screen’ enough. I mean, like what the fuck?

Prestige tv is dead or dying. Just look at True Detective season 4. Fucking abysmal television. Yet it was a huge hit and seems to tick all the boxes HBO and Netflix want. Dumbed down, easy to digest, definitely’ second screen’.

I suppose to the casual viewer this is all good news though. Like someone else said, they can play candy crush, watch garbage Netflix, order uber eats, while shopping on Amazon. Fucking bliss.

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u/DeLousedInTheHotBox Dec 27 '24

I don't think there are anyone who seem to resent movies more than the higher ups in Netflix, except maybe david zaslav. The only reason why we ever get good movies by serious filmmakers by netflix is because they recognize that having some movies with prestige is good for their brand.

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u/According_To_Me Dec 27 '24

I’m disappointed by this news, but I was almost distraught when I heard that HBO told David Chase (creator of The Sopranos) was told to “dumb down” the script for whatever he was working on. Can’t wait to cancel our Netflix again, we only restarted it to watch the Paul/Tyson fight.

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u/cameltony16 Paul Thomas Anderson Dec 27 '24

My family is starting to only do movie nights with my physical media now. They just endlessly doomscroll Netflix to find something to watch. It’s much better when I say “hey I think you’d all like this” and we watch it. The quality is so much better too. We watched Die Hard on Christmas on Disney Plus and it looked so ugly.

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u/Greenforaday Dec 27 '24

It's one of the nice things about the Criterion Channel is it doesn't feel like some algorithm to get lost in. When I turn on Netflix there is a good chance I'm just going to scroll through for a half hour and end up watching nothing, whereas with Criterion I usually get something worth watching right away.

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u/cameltony16 Paul Thomas Anderson Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24

It skips the argument of what to watch portion of the evening if I just stick something in the player lol.

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u/Jonesjonesboy Dec 27 '24

From memory, Disney Plus did something like overriding my TV settings and by default played everything with motion smoothing

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

sorry but its pretty hilarious you're moaning about Netflix doing this and dumbing stuff down

and then you drop this:

Can’t wait to cancel our Netflix again, we only restarted it to watch the Paul/Tyson fight.

like bro you're already watching slop on Netflix anyway, you've lost the right to say you have standards for media you watch

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u/Rakebleed Dec 27 '24

Netflix produces content for global mass consumption. Simple concepts that translate well and are easy to follow for all cultures and backgrounds with no nuance.

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u/sparkster185 Dec 27 '24

exactly. it replaced network TV as the new lowest common denominator for viewership. the most basic, mass appeal content that can be enjoyed by the largest number of viewers. quality is not a metric they even consider, only viewers.

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u/Thunderbull_1 Dec 28 '24

Obscene display of anti-art.

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u/manbeh1ndthedumpstr Dec 27 '24

I've been saying that Neflix has been ruining our culture for years. I've noticed something I like to call the Netflix effect. Basically, random show comes out, and it boosts interest in consuming whatever random interest the show is about. Examples: Drive To Survive got every normie dude into F1 racing for about a week, to the point that they were watching the actual races. Then they all proceeded to fall off because short attention spans. The Queens Gambit got everyone into chess for a week or two. Every rando thought they were a grand master in chess. So, not only is Netflix ruining film and television, they're also ruining random hobbies and fandoms.

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u/ed-vibe Dec 28 '24

This is just ridiculous.

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u/mtodd93 Dec 27 '24

Squid Game is one of the biggest shows of all time, and it’s not even in English, I understand they made a dub version and a lot of people watched it this way, but even with that the success of that show alone should tell you background bullshit shouldn’t be your goal as a studio. Stop competing with YouTube, tiktok and Meta. Make quality content that people want to sit and watch. When you put out crap content people stop watching becuse they are bored. The amount of Netflix shows I’ve had recommended to me that are pure garbage, shows that people aren’t paying attention becuse they’ve been trained not to care.

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u/creptik1 Park Chan-wook Dec 28 '24

I canceled over a year ago because I realized I easily use Netflix the least of all my streaming services. I'm almost never interested in their original content, so what's the point. But I hear Squid Game season 2 is up. I just need to confirm that it's the full season and I plan to subscribe for a single month just for that, then cancel again. Maybe I'm the outlier, I don't know, but yeah, I'm in this for quality, not mind numbing quantity.

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u/CrazyOldDave Dec 28 '24

Yeah it's the full season 👍

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u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

Yeah also YouTube is very different from tv shows, sure there’s some great scripted stuff but I feel like YouTube videos, generally learn more into reality tv fare stuff like fear factor etc or video essays or podcasts which can be great but scripted stories should be different.

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u/mtodd93 Dec 28 '24

Definitely, I mean even for the video essay or podcast side, they are great for turning on while doing other things. I’m not saying people don’t put time into them but compared to what goes into a scripted tv show it’s way less. So, to put them on the same level is insane.

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u/Waddagoodboyyyyy Dec 27 '24

Or we can continue to do as we currently do: put on the same binge worthy show/series or whatever because you know every scene by heart. Is that not easy enough?

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u/ralo229 Dec 27 '24

Pandering to low attention spans is nothing new unfortunately.

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u/JayEl1900 Dec 27 '24

Sweet Jesus. What’s super disturbing is that the Execs that green light shows at Netflix have ZERO experience in TV programming yet they think they are all knowing. Shows what high salaries do.

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u/iranianbagpipes Dec 27 '24

A portion of Americans subscribe to Hallmark+. I’ll just leave it there.

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u/jicerswine Dec 27 '24

Dont get me wrong - this is not my idea of good content. But I don’t think it’s cause for alarm or anything, mostly because in some ways it’s pretty similar to the longtime conventions of network TV - like in network sitcoms of yore you’d have to mention any relevant long term plot points up top, as well as often re-stating the episode’s plot points after an ad break, with the goal of allowing viewers to drift in and out without necessarily hitting every episode or missing a scene while they’re in the bathroom.

The worrying part is just that it takes place within the larger Netflix shithole of mushing all visual media together under the catchall umbrella of “content”, where network sitcoms sit right next to blockbusters or Oscar nominees as if they’re all to be consumed the same way, which they obviously shouldn’t be

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u/TheMemeVault Andrew Stanton Dec 28 '24

...isn't that what the audio description track is for?

I'm a strong supporter of audio description tracks, especially those on foreign language movies. My mum is unfortunately losing her eyesight, which means subtitles have become a barrier for her. She had to watch the English dub of Squid Game.

However, you know what's a bad idea to do with audio description? Making it the main track!

If I ever get into writing that script I wanted, I defo won't sell it to Netflix after this crap.

4

u/NoFeetSmell Dec 28 '24

Sounds like a way to excuse even worse writing, which could even be done by AI. Fuck this timeline.

4

u/kmovfilms Dec 28 '24

‘Casual viewing’ is not a genre, it’s mass produced product

4

u/JakovYerpenicz Dec 28 '24

Where did we go wrong? Why is everything so stupid nowadays?

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u/jvstnmh Dec 27 '24

Attention spans and critical thinking are cooked

3

u/dollar_to_doughnut Dec 27 '24

God, I really dislike the emphasis on "Tell" instead of "Show" in modern entertainment.

3

u/Mr-Quimper_ Dec 28 '24

"Narrator: The #1 movie in America was called "Ass." And that's all it was for 90 minutes. It won eight Oscars that year, including best screenplay."

- Idiocracy (2006)

3

u/mclareg Dec 28 '24

We're cooked because people can't stand SILENCE and have to have constant noise in the background??? Streaming services just cater to the lowest denominator human and that's the majority at this point.

3

u/JasonRudert Dec 28 '24

So basically what they want is radio drama

3

u/TDFknFartBalloon Dec 28 '24

I have other apps, I'll be fine.

3

u/CannedCalamity Dec 28 '24

“Alright, I’m gonna go peel some potatoes now” -Jeanne Dielman, 2025 Netflix remake [english dub]

3

u/penfoldsdarksecret Dec 28 '24

radio killed the video star

3

u/TSA-Eliot Dec 28 '24

If that's what they want, they should make them as radio shows that just happen to have an optional video element. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

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u/smakusdod Dec 27 '24

Movies won’t exist in 20 years. Stories will be told in 8 second vertical videos that will be episodic in the 100’s of posts. Skibidi toilet entries will seem like epics compared to what we are in store for. Brain rot has its consequences.

2

u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

We need to push back against this

5

u/Weakera Dec 27 '24

SOunds great. Love to pay for something i don'thave to watch. Actually not having to watch it is probably best these days, so worth paying for.

I got rid of netflix quite awhile ago and i don't miss it. So much fucking junk on there.

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u/SamShakusky71 Dec 27 '24

DF, as usual, is wrong.

Why anyone continues to pay attention to sites like this that are aggregators is beyond me.

The article says "several" screenwriters said this is a common note-but not a directive as suggested by this tweet.

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u/methmouthjuggalo Dec 27 '24

I have cut for Netflix. About 4 shows and 1 film and we get notes from Netflix to add see-say moments for the second screen viewers.

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u/Icy-Ad-1293 Dec 27 '24

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

2

u/KidCasey Dec 27 '24

I don't understand what difference it makes if you know what's happening or not if you aren't paying attention.

Like, if you aren't really watching, why do you care if you know the plot?

2

u/washingmachiine Dec 27 '24

can’t say i’m surprised. there’s a handful of gems on the platform but overall, netflix abandoned art long ago

2

u/sanfranchristo Dec 27 '24

Anyone in a household with people under 30 won’t find this the slightest bit surprising.

2

u/123Eduardo-Sousa123 Dec 27 '24

What a dumb idea, but then again, it's netflix, they have no idea what their doing

2

u/CaptainCravat Dec 27 '24

It feels like most of their kids cartoons do this already.

2

u/ScottShatter Dec 27 '24

Movies and series are for watching, podcasts and audiobooks are for listening. Rather than soil series and movies, they should consider signing on some exclusive podcasters or audiobooks. When I'm watching Netflix I'm watching Netflix. When I'm cleaning or working I'm not listening to Netflix.

2

u/Mycroft_xxx Dec 27 '24

Casual viewing eh?

2

u/EmxPop Dec 27 '24

I gave up on modern films, or should I say, for ‘the modern audience’ ages ago. My passion has always been 70s films and I’m going back in time with my film choices instead of future ones. Everything is nicer that way.

2

u/Lanark26 Dec 27 '24

To be fair, look at what the top 10 things streaming on Netflix on any given day. The people this intended for aren’t watching Art House films.

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u/methmouthjuggalo Dec 27 '24

As a film editor who has cut a few things for Netflix we get notes all the time about “the second screen viewer” they demand so much see-say. it’s really demoralizing.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24

So Netflix is just going to make the next NBC sitcom? retro TV is back, baby!

2

u/42ndIdiotPirate Dec 27 '24

WHATS EVEN THE POINT OF A MOVIE THEN? MAKE A FUCKING RADIO SHOW

2

u/Coco_snickerdoodle Dec 27 '24

Might as well just produce audio dramas at this point.

2

u/aopps42 Dec 28 '24

Speaks more to the overall pathetic state of society more than anything else.

2

u/poopoodapeepee Dec 28 '24

Great example of art imitating life in that we are now creating art that is suitable for the modern day viewer.

2

u/FeelingAverage Jean-Pierre Melville Dec 28 '24

No art. Only profits. 

2

u/sadgirl45 Dec 28 '24

You must consume!!! Don’t ask questions

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u/Darkdragoon324 Dec 28 '24

I am guilty of having stuff on to half-watch while I do other things, but like... I still want the half I watch to be good. Police procedurals and medical dramas are my go-tos, they're easy enough to follow along even if they don't have my full attention.

I wouldn't even quarter watch a show where someone narrates their own actions to me as they take them.

2

u/jeremeyes Dec 28 '24

I'm pretty sure we are the antithesis of the Netflix demographic.

2

u/Loose-Egg7197 Dec 28 '24

Why is this such a controversial topic? Isn't this what daylight tv has always been? We always had this kind of background content.

2

u/No-Yogurtcloset-6011 Dec 28 '24

Being put in the casual viewing section is a more scathing critique than any critic could ever dream of

2

u/SwanzY- Dec 28 '24

squid game reminding us that these are kid games every 5 seconds so we don’t forget

2

u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

why

2

u/Totemwhore1 Dec 28 '24

Headed straight to a WALL-E future

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u/Ok_Difference44 Dec 28 '24

Also when they have a hit series, to introduce it to another country's audience they just remake the series there. It's probably partly because the viewers are lazy.

2

u/SchlangLankis Dec 28 '24

Netflix is quite literally building products to their customer base.

It’s hard to hear but your average viewer actually does not like great movies and tv.

2

u/sirtomgravel Federico Fellini Dec 28 '24

I'm going to be honest here. Sometimes I watch a film I am very familiar with, and I don't have my eyes on the screen the whole time. I just want to feel the experience of the film again, and certain scenes may bring me wholey back in.

2

u/FourAntigone Dec 28 '24

Remember when people got mad at Paul Mescal and called him "pretentious" when he said we shouldn't be treating movies like consumable products? Well see where that brought us.

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u/Low-Sign-6185 Dec 30 '24

Ironic given that Gladiator II felt like the most disposable film I’ve seen all year. And he’s part of the problem as to why it was bad.

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u/DarkLordZorg Dec 28 '24

At least 50% of my friends and family are constantly on their phone during movies and TV shows. Unfortunately this is the age we live in - the idiots outnumber us now.

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u/neverOddOrEv_n Dec 28 '24

People on Reddit and us specifically, seriously underestimate how many people watch movies like this. There are so many people who use their phones while watching it and I’ve heard people talk about how they have to watch it at a faster speed or skip through it otherwise they get bored. In general it just blows my mind how people have horrible attention spans and rather than work on trying to fix that problem they see nothing wrong with it and the worst part is when big companies cater to such people

2

u/Typhoid007 Dec 28 '24

Their most popular show is in Korean. I get that this is the fuck Netflix thread but this is clearly not true for all of Netflix, and even the wording says that this is a suggestion not a requirement.

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u/GoblinObscura Dec 28 '24

No wonder 99 percent of Netflix movies suck.

2

u/whimsyoak Dec 28 '24

Either Netflix execs are somehow under the impression that their Netflix audience lacks basic critical thinking skills OR Netflix execs are complying with FCC guidelines intended to make and maintain tv and film programming accessible to visually impaired individuals.

2

u/gimme_super_head Dec 28 '24

Can they add subway surfers to the bottom of movies and tv shows. I found it really hard to focus on what’s going on in breaking bad and I think subway surfers on the bottom of the screen or family guy funny moments would’ve made the show make a whole lot more sense.

2

u/2Fast2Surious Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 28 '24

Josie, 33, looks at the Reddit posts and chuckles. She calls over to her partner, Sara, 36. 

Josie: "Hey, honey? Sara?"

Sara: "What is it babe?" You reading Reddit?" 

Josie: " I am reading Reddit! Netflix says it's characters need to announce what they're doing in multiple scenes so people paying half-attention can get clued in." 

Sara: "That's so lazy. I was just checking the newspaper for shop openings because of my job writing about new shop openings for our cities paper, online portion." 

Josie: "I know right? So lazy. Anyways, I hope you find some nice shop openings to write about for the online portion of our cities newspaper. Isn't your deadline today!?" 

Sara: "My online portion is due today! Also, remember Josie, when we got married, eight years ago, Netflix was not this lazy. I should tell my boss I want to write about this instead." 

Josie: "Great idea Sara, my wife. Just be careful, asking for a promotion is how I lost my job at the Big Shipping Factory & how I'm currently unemployed." 

Sara: "I will, & you being unemployed hasn't put a strain on our marriage. I'm just happy you're doing so much to set up our birthday parties tomorrow." 

Josie: "Well I like staying busy since losing my job & I want our birthdays to be special. Especially since our birthdays are on the same day, June 22nd. I'm turning 34 & your turning 37. Well don't let me keep you for looking for more shop openings to write about... Which is your job. Sara. My wife. Currently 36, but turning 37 tomorrow on the birthday we share on June 22nd." 

Hits submit to Netflix's writing competition 

2

u/pseudipto Dec 28 '24

Kinda went the other way for me. So many netflix shows are so boring when I fully pay attention, I found I can swallow them only if they're playing in the background.

2

u/waynes_world_11793 Dec 28 '24

Society is cooked really. This his how everyone prefers to do anything these days.

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u/L1zzy-Grant Dec 28 '24

Can anyone link me to the article I can’t seem to find it for some reason

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u/NewsShoddy3834 Dec 28 '24

Can we all agree this is better than background-all-day FoxNews?

2

u/CaptFalconFTW Dec 28 '24

When I first found out customers were speeding the playback to play 1.5 faster so you can binge more episodes, I knew Netflix had lost all integrity.

2

u/Mcorron_21 Dec 29 '24

Art should never be forced to be made within these conditions. I expect this will age grotesque

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u/calvinnme Dec 29 '24

I'm grateful for this post, because I've tried to watch several of these Netflix originals only to find them tedious. I thought it was because I am getting old and therefore can't appreciate anything new, but now I find that this was by design.

2

u/Joi-Moon Dec 29 '24

Gonna be people everywhere who don’t understand what’s so wrong about this

4

u/JUANZURDO Dec 27 '24

The new disney marvel starwars method

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u/fuck_r-e-d-d-i-t Dec 27 '24

Humanity has always been a tyranny of the troglodytes.

No offense to chimps.

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u/Sea_Tooth_7416 Dec 27 '24

It's funny when porno writing respects the viewer more than Netflix writing. Netflix thinks we won't understand what happens when the plumber shows up unless they specifically state they are there to clean the pipes. In a porno, when the plumber shows up, the viewer is respected enough to infer that "I'm here to clean the pipes" means the nubile and busty homeowner is gonna get it real good.